• Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Enable Push Notifications In OS X Mountain Lion Server

    Push Notifications can be used in most every service OS X Mountain Lion Server can run. Any service that requires Push Notifications will provide the ability to setup APNS during the configuration of the service. But at this point, I usually just set up Push Notifications when I setup a new server. To enable Push Notifications for services, you’ll first need to have a valid AppleID. Once you have an AppleID, open the Server app and then click on the name of the server. At the Overview screen, click on Settings. At the Settings screen for your server, click on the check-box for “Enable Apple push notifications.” At the Apple…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Setting Up And Using Web Services in OS X Mountain Lion Server

    Configuring web services is as easy in OS X Mountain Lion Server (10.8) as it has ever been. To set up the default web portal, simply open the Server app, click on the Websites service and click on the ON button. After a time, the service will start. Once running, click on the View Server Website link at the bottom of the pane. Provided the stock OS X Server page loads, you are ready to use OS X Server as a web server. Before we setup custom sites, there are a few things you should know. The first is, the server is no longer really designed to remove the default…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server

    Using The New FTP Service in Mac OS X Mountain Lion Server

    FTP went away in OS X Lion Server (kinda’) and now it’s back in OS X Mountain Lion Server (kinda’). Instead of sharing out each directory the new incantation of the FTP service allows administrators to share a single directory out. This directory can be any share that has previously been configured in the File Sharing service or a website configured in the Websites service. To setup FTP, first open the Server app and then click on the FTP service. Once open, use the Share: drop-down list to select a share that already exists (output of sharing -l basically) and click on one of the shares or Custom to create…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Mountain Lion Server Posts on AFP548.com

    AFP548 has undergone a new look and feel. But it’s also gotten some fresh faces writing articles and there have also been some links over here about posts I’ve done on services in Mountain Lion Server. Since the introduction of Mountain Lion, the following articles have been posted: Running NetBoot On Mountain Lion Server: http://afp548.com/2012/08/09/netboot-on-10-8-server Garage Band Deployment: http://afp548.com/2012/08/07/garageband-deployment-quick-tip Configuring Alerts on 10.8 Server: http://afp548.com/2012/08/06/alerts-on-10-8-server Resolving Issues With AFP: http://afp548.com/2012/08/05/strange-afpsmb-connection-issues-check-this-out New 10.8 Unix Commands: http://afp548.com/2012/08/04/new-10-8-unix-commands Upgrading to 10.8 Server: http://afp548.com/2012/08/03/upgrading-to-10-8-server Never Image Again: http://afp548.com/2012/08/02/never-image-a-machine-again Upgrading FileVault Enabled Systems From 10.7 to 10.8: http://afp548.com/2012/07/29/upgrading-from-10-7-to-10-8-on-a-fv2-encrypted-system Some of these just link to articles I’ve written, others are original and still others link to other sites within the Mac Systems Administrator…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Microsoft Exchange Server,  Network Infrastructure

    Configuring & Using Profile Manager 2 in OS X Mountain Lion Server

    Profile Manager first appeared in OS X Lion Server as the Apple-provided tool for managing Apple devices, including Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS based devices as well as Profile management for OS X based computers, including MacBooks, MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, Mac Pros and iMacs running Mac OS X 10.7 and up. In OS X Mountain Lion, Apple has added a number of new features to Profile Manager, most notably the ability to push certain types of apps to mobile devices. In this article, we’re going to look at setting up Profile Manager from scratch. If you’re upgrading to OS X Mountain Lion Server (10.8 Server) from OS X…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Setting Up & Troubleshooting An Open Directory Replica In OS X Mountain Lion Server

    Yesterday we looked at setting up an Open Directory Master in OS X Mountain Lion Server. An Open Directory Replica keeps a copy of the Open Directory database available for users even when the Master goes offline. But it can also take a part of the load from the Open Directory Master and when using the new Locales feature, balance network traffic. To get started with an Open Directory Replica, first enable SSH, now disabled by default. Next, use the changeip to check the host name. While the Server app is cool, it caches stuff and I’ve seen it let things go threat shouldn’t be let go. Therefore, in order…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Setting Up an Open Directory Master in OS X Mountain Lion Server

    Open Directory has never been so easy to setup for a basic environment as it is in OS X Mountain Lion Server. It’s also never been so annoyingly simple to use that to do anything cool requires a bunch of command line foo. No offense to the developers, but this whole idea that the screens that were being continually refined for a decade just need to be thrown out and started fresh seems to have led to a few babies thrown out along with them. Not often as I’m kinda’ digging most of the new config screens in OS X Mountain Lion Server, but with Open Directory, it’s just too…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Installing and Managing NetBoot Services in OS X Mountain Lion Server

    The NetBoot service has allowed administrators of Mac OS X computers to leverage images hosted on a server to boot computers to a central location since OS X was first introduced by Apple. Since the very first versions of OS X, the service has been called NetBoot. In the Server app, Apple has added a number of options surrounding the NetBoot service. It is now called NetInstall. The first step to configuring the NetBoot service is to decide what you want the NetBoot service to do. There are three options: Create a NetBoot Image: Allows Macs to boot over the network to a disk image hosted on a server. Create…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Setting Up File Services in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Server

    File Services are perhaps the most important aspect of any server because file servers are often the first server an organization purchases. There are a number of protocols built into OS X Mountain Lion Server dedicated to serving files, including AFP, SMB and WebDAV. These services, combined comprise the File Sharing service in OS X Mountain Lion Server. File servers have shares. In OS X Mountain Lion Server we refer to these as Share Points. By default: File Sharing has some built-in Share Points that not all environments will require. Each of these shares is also served by AFP and SMB, something else you might not want (many purely Mac…

  • Mac OS X Server

    Using Wikis & WebDAV in OS X Mountain Lion

    A wiki is a repository of dynamically created and managed content, or content created or edited by multiple users collaboratively. This article is about using the wiki service in Mountain Lion. I reference file services with WebDAV because it is a very nice integration piece that I think a lot of people will find pretty beneficial. To get started with the Wiki service, first turn it on. This one isn’t heavily dependent on host names (other than being able to access the server from a browser) or directory services (other than being able to authenticate users, but local accounts are perfectly functional) and it doesn’t require the Websites service to…